In order to start blogging and create a significant presence online, you need to pick “niche” topic that interests you. A “niche” is basically an area of interest that you want to pursue further. This could be anything from music to mountain biking to video games, fashion, and more. You don’t need to be an expert, you simply need to have a strong interest in your subject matter.
Once you decide on your “niche,” the more specific you can get, the better. So instead of music, you might create a blog about Heavy Metal. Instead of Video Games, you might create a blog on Games for the Wii. Instead of Fashion, you might create a blog on shoe styles. The possibilities are endless . . .
In order to get started, you’ve got to narrow down your topic and focus on your niche. There are two things to consider when doing this:
Will I have enough things to write about on this topic?
You’ll be writing a blog post just about every class through the end of the semester – that puts you at about 10 – 12 posts. Do you think that you could have enough ideas to do that? Just imagine if you had to write a post everyday for the next five years – would you have enough ideas around your niche?
Read this blog post about finding a niche before you move one:
http://www.problogger.net/archives/2006/02/15/how-to-choose-a-niche-topic-for-your-blog/
Is there an audience for your topic?
In today’s world of specialization, you can find an audience for just about anything. Yet, blogs are a lot more fun if you get some sort of interaction. So you need to know that there are people out there for you.
You’ll do a few things to narrow this down:
Write a list of five post ideas around your niche
Give me five post ideas below – great posts are informational and give your readers something that they need. What sort of information would your readers want?
Read this blog post before you write your list:
http://www.problogger.net/archives/2005/11/29/20-types-of-blog-posts-battling-bloggers-block/
Give me five ideas below:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
If you can’t think of at least five ideas for blog posts, move to a different niche . . .
Consider your audience through 2 activities
Describe your ideal reader – who do you picture reading about this topic? In a few sentences, describe that person:
Now, find at least three places where those people hang out online – forums, social media, and other blogs are all great sources of information about your readers. List the site name and URLs below:
- Site Name
- URL:
- Site Name
- URL:
Read this blog post about finding readers for your blog:
http://www.copyblogger.com/how-to-dominate-your-niche/
SET UP YOUR BLOG
You’ve got your niche, go ahead and set up the blog!
- Go to http://www.wordpress.com
- It’s a blog hosting site that we’ll be using to host your blogs
- Press sign-up in the upper right hand corner of the screen
- Enter the necessary info and select “gimme a blog!”
- You’ll need to confirm your registration via e-mail; if you don’t have an e-mail address, let me know, I’ll help you set it up
- Enter your profile information
- This will appear online – I would recommend using a “Writer’s Name” instead of your own
Once you verify your account, login – this will take you to your dashboard
- Click on the “Change Theme” button
- This will take you to a page to choose the theme for your blog – this can be changed later, just pick one that looks good to you now
- Go back to your Dashboard and click on “New Post”
Write your first blog post!
- This first post should introduce yourself with a few background details (don’t get too personal . . .), an introduction of your topic, what your think is important aobut your topic, what you are planning to discuss around your topic, and an invitation for your readers to come back and visit often!
- Your post should be 500 – 700 words
- Once you have written your post, click publish
- Click the “Visit Site” button – this will take you to your blog
E-mail Boaz (cboaz@tamdistrict.org) with the URL and I’ll check it out!
